Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

going with this. But what about a local service for the neighborhood?”

“You saw the neighborhood when we got here,” De Cremonese said. “There’s not a house in sight for over ten miles or so. That’s quite a distance for delivery every day, three times a day.”

“Can I see that?”

De Cremonese handed him the stack.

Bishop sifted through the stack. “Why a list on paper? All the boxes are checked with a pencil. Here’s one with something written on it.”

“What’s it say?” De Cremonese asked.

“No onions next to the box checked for meatloaf.”

“Not a great fan of onions in their meatloaf, I guess,” De Cremonese joked.

“You order a lot of pizza at the Vatican?” Bishop asked, leafing through the stack all the way down to the last one.

De Cremonese grinned. “I’m not often at the Vatican, so I couldn’t say, but you’ll be surprised how much pizza and other meals are ordered in at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence where my office happens to be.”

“I don’t know why, but somehow that seems reassuring,” Bishop said as he turned the final paper slightly and concentrated on the lower right corner. “What’s this?”

“What is it?” De Cremonese asked.

“Looks like another written text. Numbers. Nine-five-seven-four-six.”

De Cremonese took out his phone, and on the search page, he punched in the numbers, “Nine-five-seven-four-six.”

“Anything?”

“Looks like a ZIP code. Here, let me open it in Maps.”

On the screen, the area surrounding their current location appeared.

“Can you zoom in and change to satellite image?” Bishop asked.

De Cremonese pressed and swiped, and the image changed to that of a forest seen from the sky. “There’s nothing there,” he remarked.

“And what’s that?” Bishop asked pointing to the screen. “May I?”

“Sure.” De Cremonese handed him the phone. Bishop zoomed in and out a few times. “There, you see that?” He pointed to what looked like a brown dot in a green forest. “Could that be a roof?”

“Sure, but it could also be an error in the image.”

“Why have a ZIP code to nothing....?” Bishop asked.

“You think that could be the place where Jennifer is?”

“Or Amie. Or maybe both.”

“How far is that from here?” De Cremonese gestured Bishop to give him the phone back. “It’s just a few miles out, deeper into the woods,” he answered his own question. “What do you think?”

“I think we should go find out. I have a good feeling about this.” Bishop sounded enthusiastic.

“All right.”

“Let’s go then.”

Both men quickly stacked the papers back as neatly as they could and moved out of the office.

De Cremonese looked back at the screen hanging from the wall.

“Never mind that,” Bishop said. “They will connect us to this anyhow. From here, we must try to stay one step ahead of them.”

“Who’s them?” De Cremonese asked as they descended the stairwell.

“That’s an excellent question,” Bishop answered.

Within a minute, both men entered the central hallway, where Lea appeared again.

“Ah, you are back,” she said. “I’m afraid I have no more news about the availability of Mr. Mulder.”

“That’s okay, Lea. We’re out of time and need to go,” De Cremonese told her. “Can you please have our car brought around, so we can leave?”

“No problem. I will have it brought around immediately. I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Logynous headquarters.”

“We did, thank you,” Bishop said.

“Yes, thank you. It was great.”

“Please come again. You know how to find me.” The sliding glass doors behind them slid open.

“Magnificent,” Bishop said as they walked out, spreading his arms at the splendor of the forest ahead.

“It sure is,” De Cremonese confirmed.

Chapter 27 – Properties

Granite Bay, CA

Bishop steered the Jeep across the snaking, narrow and bumpy forest road.

“So, this is the road they drive every day with their meals?” De Cremonese asked.

“Road? Where do you see a road?” Bishop asked.

“You wanted to drive.” De Cremonese smiled, looking at the GPS screen on his phone while trying to keep it still. “It looks like we’re going the right way... I think.”

“Did you see any milk on that menu list?” Bishop asked.

“Why milk?”

“Because by the time the delivery gets there, it’ll probably be butter,” Bishop joked.

“That’ll be a real miracle,” De Cremonese replied. “Do you believe in miracles, Matthew?

“I know there are things I can’t explain yet.”

“Such as?” De Cremonese asked.

“Um....” Bishop thought for a long moment. “The origin of Earth, for example.”

“Nothing from personal experience?”

“Well, one time when I was walking my dog in a park, an old man walked up to me and started a short conversation—something about life and death—I can’t remember exactly. Anyway, after a few minutes, I went one way, and he went to the other. After a few seconds, I turned around to look at him once more, and he was gone, nowhere to be seen. The path we were walking ended hundreds of feet in the distance. There were no exits or bushes next to it to hide in. It was the only unexplainable moment in my entire life.”

“It’s a shame you can’t remember what it was the old man said.”

“It sure is,” Bishop agreed. “Now and then I think about it, and it feels like he said something important. I’ve never been able to reproduce what he said. What’s that?” He suddenly slammed the brakes, stopping at the edge of a steep downhill track, leaving a large dust trail behind them.

A few hundred feet downhill was a clearing with a large pond in the center. On the far side of the pond stood a big log cabin with a small pier next to it.

“That’s a nice vacation spot.” De Cremonese peered past the lake.

“It is. You see that?” He pointed to the lake. “On the pier.”

“You’re right. There’s someone on the pier fishing.”

“Damn. I think he is,” Bishop confirmed. “Oh, sorry, Father.”

De Cremonese grinned. “What do you think? A guard, maybe?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Bishop slowly set the Jeep in motion, and once over the edge, he let it roll down freely, until it reached the side of the pond. Both men got out and overlooked the water.

“I